September 28th, 2007

Weekly Hot
Topics

Collected by Dalmarus

It's that time of the week again everyone, where I bring you the Weekly
Hot Topics featuring both the href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=38">TTH
Vanguard forums
and the  href="http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/forums/list.m">official
Vanguard forums.
With the servers and forums being down for a decent amount of time this
week due to the authentication upgrades SOE was installing, it seems as
though a lot of players may have been busy with other things than
playing this week. While the traffic on the servers wasn't overly
diminished, the activity on the forums has been this week. Consider
the fact that Halo 3, the 800lbs. gorilla of the FPS world
also
hit shelves this week (with midnight sales), and it's understandable to
see why. 

Have you come across a
thread you'd like to see featured? href="mailto:[email protected]">Send it off
(with a subject of "Weekly Hot Topics"). Or if style="font-weight: bold;">you want to be
featured, start an engaging thread on href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=38">our
forums here.

href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=19394"> class="maintitle"> style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> target="_blank"
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=19091">

TTH Vanguard Forums

href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=19370"> class="maintitle">What Do You Want Most? - By Ralsu

Despite
the fact that the current polls will affect some of the work I do here
in the future, I wanted to be sure to put this thread in the roundup
for yet another reason. Voting ends on September 30th. At that time,
the cards will have been dealt, and we all find out what you really
want to see the most. If you haven't taken the time to
register
and vote, you'd better hurry up before time runs out. No one has to
vote, but if you don't, no one wants to hear anyone cry about the
results either... kind of like some other upcoming elections, eh?

href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=19394"> class="maintitle"> style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> target="_blank"
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=19091">

Official Vanguard Forums

href="http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?&topic_id=18640"> class="maintitle">We Demand Anti-Aliasing Support! - By
Vanguards

The
dynamic responses that can be generated from a single statement never
cease to amaze me.

Lack of anti-alias support in Vanguard was the single reason I gave the
game 4 out of 5 hammers in my review. I hate "jaggies" with a passion.
I constantly run around the land seeing a multitude of various
landscapes and vistas. Not only are there plenty of places to explore,
but I enjoy the idea that perhaps even I won't see them all. I'm awed
by the beauty of this world we call Telon. Right up until the point
when I lay my eyes on a column, or building edge, etc. It drives me
absolutely mad and drags me out of the game. Yes, I'm one of style="font-style: italic;">those people, haha.

On the other side of the coin are those who could not possibly care
less about AA support. They would rather have SOE continue to work on
fixing the game, adding content, and not doing anything to further
upset their delicate balance of playtime vs. CTD's. While I agree that
SOE has more important things to work on right now, I would like to see
this happen in the future.

To be fair though, the dev team has stated in the past that due to the
state the code they received was in, the chances of this ever happening
are slim to none. Pop your nose in the thread and let us know what you
think.

href="http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=19645"> class="maintitle">Where did my gold spammers go? - By Gavalin

Can
it be? Have the gold spammers finally gone away?!

Unfortunately, the answer is no, but this thread explores the
possibility that part of SOE's authentication upgrades that were made
this week has had a significant impact on the amount of spam being
received. Some report not having gotten a single tell or mail from them
since Tuesday, while others state they are still receiving messages,
but with far less frequency than they have been in the past. I haven't
had a chance to hop in and test this for myself yet this week, but keep
an eye out for those spammers and inform everyone what your results are!

href="http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=19656"> class="maintitle">Sartok, Creating a player ruleset. - By
Gripes

Gripes
has started one of the most ambitious ideas I've seen on the boards in
a very long time. He's not suggesting that the server won't be a FFA,
or that everyone is supposed to get in line to take turns on raid mobs.
What he is suggesting though, is that the guild leaders of the server
get together for a bit of honor among thieves. He wants the use of
exploits and cheats/hacks to be dealt with severely. Just like every
other post, right? Wrong. Rather than depending on SOE or the GM's to
do anything, he wants the players to take back the server by force.
Those guilds not abiding by the few rules listed would be hunted and
slaughtered on site by all the guilds within the "alliance".

While the idea is sound, I'm not sure how well the execution will work
out. If you're a fan of the PvP server and would like to see a small
amount of order (or at least honorable play) come about, get over there
and lend a hand or voice to the cause.

href="http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=19640">Linear
Dungeons in Vanguard - By Nephele

This thread brought back some great memories of EQ1 for me. Rather than
having only one way in and one (or the same) way out, EQ had a large
number of dungeons with multiple entrances/exits. The reasoning, or the
overall effect at the very least, for this, was that a single dungeon
could accommodate a number of players without causing a lot of grief.
Different groups could work in different areas, have fun, get loot, and
avoid a lot of bickering this way.

It's important to note that it was pointed out in the thread that there
are some dungeons like this in Vanguard. A post in there also provides
a link to a great site listing more dungeons than I had even guessed
existed in the game. I can't wait to get in there and check some of
them out.

And although not mentioned in the post, other thoughts for dungeons
could include a "one way in, one way out" style dungeon in the spirit
of places like Kaesora in EQ. Once you passed a certain point, your
only
choices were either to gate out, or battle your way through to the
exit. I loved that and wished some dungeons like that would make a come
back.

Conclusion

The
week
has seen some interesting developments for Vanguard and the community
that loves it. In recent weeks, it feels as though a number of new and
old players alike have come to try things out. Word also finally came
from the SOE camp informing the players how progress is coming along
for Game Update #3 in the form of a milestone update report. While
players are chomping at the bit to get a crack at conquering the
Ancient Port Warehouse when it goes live, they'd rather see it complete
and polished than rushed out the door. I think this is an ideal that
SOE is taking to heart. Vanguard has a loyal following right now, but
to survive, it's going to need fresh players. Without any polish, those
players will never stay around though.